Lion’s Lair 2012: Today is the Gala Event!

Yes that’s right….today is the second annual Lion’s Lair Gala event where the winners of the contest will be announced….and Snappay is one of those in the running for $100,000 in cash and prizes – and we’re pumped!

And the #HamOnt Spectator, our daily newspaper covered same in a full-page spread on those top ten finalists and can be seen here too (big shout-out to Meredith MacLeod for the great reporting too!).

And a small reminder/disclaimer, that Snappay is a new mobile app that I’ve invested in and I am the CEO so it was myself that did the “pitch” to the Lions back in late August so as you may be able to tell, I’m very proud of what the company has done in the past 5 months since our launch!

But back to that full page article and here’s what the story entitled “It’s feeding time for Lion’s Lair entrepreneurs” leads off with…

“A new roar will be heard in Hamilton after a gala dinner Thursday to crown the winner of the Lion’s Lair.

The entrepreneurial competition sponsored by the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce and the Innovation Factory will award $100,000 in cash and in-kind services to one or more of the 10 finalists.

The winner (or winners) was chosen by a panel of five lions who listened to their pitches and then grilled the competitors about their business plans, marketing strategies and visions for growth.

Judge Rami Reda said he was impressed by the great ideas showcased at the competition and by the level of support and resources available to local startups.

“Seeing the great entrepreneurs in the city of Hamilton, their great ideas and what they hope to achieve, being around that was an energizing feeling,”said Reda who grew up in his family’s convenience store business, Big Bee and who also runs his own real estate development company.

Starting a business is always a risk, he says.

“They were fearless,” Reda, 28, said of the finalists. “From university students to seasoned veterans like Jim Rudnick, they have a different mindset.”

Fellow judge Sophia Aggelonitis, who ran her own cooking sauce business before seeking election as an MPP, said all the finalists will be successful because they all displayed the drive and ambition necessaryt o make it as an entrepreneur….”

As you can tell, this is so much a “big deal” for Hamilton’s startup community….we all face the same challenges and we all learn to cope and succeed as we strive to gain traction and revenues along the way.

Snappay is truly a winner. Perhaps not so much tonite at the Lion’s Lair Gala event…but in truth we have already won…we have real live users…we have real revenues and we grow every day. So that alone makes us successful so far in the long journey to gain market share and position. And competing beside your peers makes a CEO validate their firm against the citie’s best…

But drilling down also reveals that the city itself – our own Hamilton is the winner too….this is exactly the kind of business event that “stokes” the fire of momentum that we are enjoying…moving away from a manufacturing/factory town to a new paradigm of what we will become….

So Kudos to the Hamilton Chamber and David Adames their CEO and to our Innovation Factory and their Executive Director Ron Neumann….and their leadership on propelling Hamilton into the future using events like the Lion’s Lair and others too! Kudos to you all!

Trackbacks

Yes that’s right….today is the second annual Lion’s Lair Gala event where the winners of the contest will be announced….and Snappay is one of those in the running for $100,000 in cash and prizes – and we’re pumped! And the #HamOnt Spectator, our daily …

Yes that’s right….today is the second annual Lion’s Lair Gala event where the winners of the contest will be announced….and Snappay is one of those in the running for $100,000 in cash and prizes – and we’re pumped! And the #HamOnt Spectator, our daily …